Fireplaces

Fireplaces

Many fireplaces today offer unique features that are not only aesthetically beautiful, but are also cost and energy effective.

Today’s options include:

Inserts - Direct Vent Inserts are the most heat efficient. They are designed to look like a traditional wood burning fireplace and use outside air for combustion (often from through a wall), thus eliminating the draw of warm/heated air from inside.

Natural Vent – Natural Vent fireplaces require a chimney and damper that can be opened to allow the smoke to escape. They use room air for combustion and chimney to exhaust air. They are less efficient because the air they burn is heated air from your home.

Overall, installing fireplace inserts can reduce heat losses by 65%, due to simple inefficiencies of standard wood burning fireplaces (hot exhaust gases flowing out the chimney).

Electric – With electric fireplaces no chimney is needed. Most are designed for appearance, but some are designed with heaters and are 100% heat efficient and safe because they are cool to the touch.

Gas – Gas fireplaces burn cleaner than wood and can be instantly turned on and off with a flip of a switch.

Wood Burning – The smell and sound of wood burning is romantic and tranquil, can heat your home and has even more heating potential if a blower is installed.

Pellet or Coal Inserts – Can provide options for a standard wood-burning fireplace to burn either environmentally-friendly pellet or corn fuels or an inexpensive and readily available fossil fuel. If you want to use either type of these fireplace inserts, you'll need to have your chimney and flue inspected to make certain they are appropriate for burning a fuel other than wood. Since other fuels can burn hotter, a standard masonry or single-layer metal chimney may not be safe for use with inserts.